Well today is 12 years since Dale Sr died. I was in the same place that day as I was the day he won the Daytona 500 in 1998, the TA truck stop in Vegas. I was as sad the day he died as I was happy the day he finally won the Daytona 500 after 20 years of trying.
I remember the day he won the 500 like it was yesterday, I walked into the truck stop to sign my fuel ticket and then find a place to park for the day, with a delivery in California a couple days away, I was there to find a casino and have a little fun, what I got was a bug I never have been able to shake even though I have tried many times. That bug for which I was a casual fan since around 1978, that day turned into something I never thought possible, and obsession with a motorsport that would make me forget there were any other sports.
All bigger truck stops have a TV room, this Ta was no different. When I walked into the truck stop I heard a roar and a commotion from the TV room that was so excited that I had to ask the lady at the fuel desk, "what the hell was that abut" her response was "oh the are watching some stupid race!" The energy that came from the TV room made me think that it wasn't just some stupid race. I hurried out to my truck, drove like a crazy man to find a parking spot so I could get my ass back in there to see what all the excitement was all about.
After parking my truck and running back into the truck stop TV room, which was literally packed from wall to wall and barely standing room only, what was all the yelling and hype about you ask? Some guy named Dale Earnhardt took the lead in what I was told was the biggest race of the season, the Daytona 500!! Well with all that excitement I just had to stand there and find out ho this guy was and what all this meant. As I said up to that day I was just a casual fan of NASCAR, I watched all forms of racing up until then, motor cross, mud bogs, street bikes, F1, Indy car, jet boats, monster trucks, you name it in racing I was a fan, mostly of motor cross racing because that was something I loved to do and watch.
I can't remember how many laps were left, but I think it was around thirty or so, I stood there watching not only the race, but the people in that room, man there was so much excitement in that room and it was all for that guy Dale Earnhardt. I listened to the stories about how he has been trying to win this race for 20 years and has been leading during the last lap almost every time and something crazy happened to him every year, "this year had to be his year" was the common thoughts of everyone in that little TV room. As the laps wound down, you could feel the excitement build, I looked up a couple times thinking that ceiling had to be about to explode with all the buzz and excitement in that darn little room!!
Then came the last 2 laps, Dale was right there, right up front and poised to take the checkered flag finally once and for all, everyone was screaming and yelling and cheering, I thought for sure we were all going to get kicked out of the TV room because of all the noise. As he came out of what I learned was turn 4, made no sense to me because it looked like there were only 2 turns in the whole track, but the TV announcers said it was turn 4 so who was I to argue, to take the white flag, 1 lap to go, there was a wreck behind him, so they threw the white flag and the caution (yellow flag that indicates there is a wreck on the track and for everyone to slow down, another thing I learned that day.) That little TV room went totally BERSERK!!!! Holy crap that guy Dale Earnhardt won the race after 20 years of trying. There were screams of joy from everyone and an energy that I have never experienced ever before. I really had no idea what had just happened, I didn't know the magnitude of what I just witnessed, but I will tell you this, if this is what NASCAR was all about I was in. And how could I pull for anyone but that Dale guy? If 1 man could excite a room full of guys that much, did I happen to say only 1 guy in that little TV room had a shirt with Dales name and car on it? I think everyone had their own favorite driver, and Dale had himself a new fan if he knew it or not, I couldn't wait until the next race, "um hey guys, whens the next race?" I actually didn't have a clue.
4 years later, in that very same little TV room, I sat there cheering on Dale, Dale Jr, Steve Park, and some loser dude that hadn't won a race in something like 400 some races, Michael Waltrip, and now worked for Dale Earnhardt Inc. Dale Sr's team. Steve wrecked earlier in the race so I was cheering for Dale and his son Dale Jr to win that race. And it looked like that was for sure possible with Dale running up front most of the race and Jr fighting for the lead early in the race. That loser dude Michael was mid pack all day then presumably out of nowhere here he came, to the front. I sat there stunned along with everyone else, hell it looked like he might actually win his thing. Then the white flag, looked like Dale was doing something he had never done before, he was blocking for his team so one of them could go on and win the race. Then like many times in years passed, something crazy happened and Dale and Kenny Schrader had hit the wall simultaneously. Looked like any other minor wreck, certainly not the worst wreck of the day or nothing close to the worst either driver had been in before.
That day my world stood still, a little while later while sitting in my truck flipping both TV channels and radio channels I learned that Dale Earnhardt had died that day, from results of whats now one of the most famous crashes in NASCAR history, "with the wreck on the last lap of the Daytona 500, we lost Dale" words the President of NASCAR, Mike Helton, that might not be the exact words Mike uttered, but it didn't matter, I was in tears when he said it. In those 4 years I learned a lot about Dale, the racer and the father and someone who I grew to admire and call hero, not because he was an athlete or a famous person, but for what I learned he did away from the track. I think its safe to say I have 4 hero's in my life, first my father, my nephew Nic, who died in an accident when he was 17, third Dale Earnhardt and fourth every man and woman that serves or served this country in the military. That day I had to decide if I wanted to continue to watch NASCAR, it was almost too difficult to even think at that time, but could this be my last race I watch. I guess we all know that answer, I am still a fan, I still watch it every weekend that I can, and I am just as big a fan now as I was the day he died. Now I pull for his son, not because its Dales kid, but because he is every bit the racer his father is, might not have the record his dad does, but really.....how many of us do? Even today when I think of Dale I shed a tear, hell sometimes I out and out cry like a baby. So today I watch all the clips, even the movie Richard and Teresa made, remember the good times like the day he won Daytona, the day Jr won the Pepsi 400 that same July and what it meant for him to win that race, of Michael and what that day meant to him, what it should of meant to him.
Whats your story? I know we all have them. You know mine now, tell me yours.
Until tomorrow.......
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